Connal McInerney and Cadeyrn Neville are poised to return to Brumbies headquarters having had a stint in the national side's camp during the Tri Nations.

Palmer has returned to the Brumbies as scrum coach for the 2021 Super Rugby campaign and says the duo's chance to work with the best in the country would have been a crucial learning curve.

The pair are slated to return to club training in the coming weeks as the Brumbies reach the midway point of a five-week pre-Christmas training block.

The remainder of the club's Wallabies players will return in January as the Brumbies set sail for their Super Rugby AU opener against the Western Force on February 19.

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McInerney is one of five Brumbies front-rowers to have featured in Wallabies camp, and now he has a chance to take his scrummaging to the next level under a 45-Test Wallaby and ex-Brumbies tighthead prop in Palmer.

That could further bolster Palmer's ambition to help the Brumbies stamp their claim as one of the competition's best as they prepare for the return of New Zealand-based opposition, adamant "we're not here to make up the numbers".

"It's really valuable, they would have learnt a lot. I think we're going to see them before Christmas so it will be good to have a chat to them and see what they brought out of Wallabies camp," Palmer said.

"We've got some good Wallabies coming back, obviously Scotty [Sio] and Allan [Alaalatoa] will add something. We've got Cadeyrn coming back into the row as well.

"From our point of view, we've got to put a system in place that allows them to scrummage at their best.

"In and around that, we very much work together in developing tactics for certain opposition and things like that. I've worked with them for a long time, I played with Scotty, so we work well together.

"Pre-Christmas here we've got a lot of young guys, so we're working primarily on getting them physically up to speed so they can do what we're asking them to do.

"We're also drip-feeding them information about the Brumbies' system and the way we scrummage here. It's kind of two-fold at the moment."

Among the group on deck is a pair of front-rowers who have got a taste of Super Rugby in Tom Ross and Harry Lloyd.

Palmer says the emerging Canberra products have a chance to seize a leadership role among the group during a pre-Christmas period and "take charge" on the training paddock.

"Those guys and the younger guys as well are all stepping up and working really hard," Palmer said.

"We're not here to make up numbers, we have a lot of pride in our set piece here and we have for a long time. We plan on being among the best in the competition.

"Part of our pre-season program before Christmas is to get the guys thinking about scrummaging.

"They're reviewing certain teams and talking about the types of tactics they might use, problem-solving different scenarios on the field, it's about getting them thinking about the scrum and getting them excited about it."